


A Dragon No Longer

by DaggerFallen



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Found Family, Galo is there for him though, Hurt/Comfort, Lio gets adopted emotionally by the rescue team, M/M, Mad Burnish (Promare), Post-Canon, in which Lio loses a part of him that hes proud of and has trouble moving on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24380212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaggerFallen/pseuds/DaggerFallen
Summary: What happened to his Burnish pride? A part of Lio is gone forever now that the Promare is gone. He doesn't hear the voices as he used to, he's no different than anyone else. While it sounds like a dream come true, those wounds don't heal immediately. They hurt, and they fester. The passion deep within him wants to burn, but for the first time in his life, Lio feels like he cant handle the heat.Galo watches as his friend fights an inner battle on what it means to be human, after so many years of isolation.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	1. Burnish Scum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to write more (a lot more), and things may be revised as I do so. This project is just for fun lol, but I'm posting it here just in case anyone is interested.

“You’re one of the Burnish… you’re a monster. That’s what all of you are!”

Lio Fotia, the leader of Mad Burnish looked down to a member of the Freeze Force that had their gun aimed at him. Their eyes shone with a deep hatred at his very being, it was a look that he knew all too well.

“You people,” Lio scoffed with a look of contempt, “You hate what’s different, but you don’t know what I am!”

The Freeze Force agent backed up a bit and tried to shoot at him, but he just dodged the bullet while continuing to speak. As he stepped closer he registered the fear on their face. It didn’t stop his anger from boiling, he was already started on a rant and he wouldn’t stop now.

“You hate the Burnish for things they can’t control! You hate the aspect of us that makes us unique!” he said, his voice growing deeper and more agitated as he took steps closer to the agent. Their eyes widened in fear, and his seemed to mirror, though widening in a growing rage.

“Kray Foresight makes you believe such ludicrous things. When will you think for yourself?!” Lio raised his sword as the armor of the Mad Burnish enveloped him.

The Agent gasped in alarm and dropped their gun to shield themselves as Lio prepared to swing the sword down in anger. The sword was met with a sickening crack, and Lio’s arm jarred sideways, throwing him off balance as he staggered to the side. He growled and his eyes traced back to the person whom his rage had been pointed at. Someone had blocked his sword, but who?

First his eyes connected with red pants, then followed up the shirtless form of someone he knew rather well. Then his eyes found his blue, wild hair, then his face. His heart stopped when, for the first time, he saw a look of hatred in the firefighter’s eyes. It made his stomach twist.

“Galo… what the hell are you doing?” he swung his sword to the side, urging Galo to move out of his way, “You know I wont kill. So, why are you looking at me like that?!” He shouted at Galo, though the man didn’t waver. Instead he held the intense gaze. The burning behind his gaze wasn’t the usual idiotic firefighter passion that he usually rambled about. It was much more carnal and malicious.

Lio glanced to his sword for a moment and realized his hatred of Kray Foresight had almost gotten the best of him. He would’ve stopped himself though, he knew that for a fact. He wasn’t evil, not by any means. He assumed that Galo knew that too. After all Galo saw the best in him where others didn’t.

Galo didn’t respond. No words had come from his lips that were pulled together in a tight scowl. It wasn’t a look that Lio felt fit the idiot, but for some reason it shook him to his core to see it.

“The Burnish don’t kill. I need to teach those who follow Foresight that we’re not to be trifled with. Why are you looking at me like I’m a criminal? This isn’t your fight!” he snapped at Galo then took a calculated step forward. He hadn’t noticed that the agent from before was nowhere to be seen. It was just him and Galo now. The burning of the building seemed like such a silent crackle compared to the heavy tension between the two.

Galo took a step forward, putting them only a couple inches apart, and the look on his face made Lio’s armor crumble away, leaving him as the man he truly was underneath the broken exterior. Galo bunched a fist into the collar of his coat and lifted him off the ground so that they were truly face to face.

Lio struggled for a moment, and gulped against the pressure of being lifted practically by the neck. His eyes tried to focus in on the eyes of the other in front of him, and his hands raised to grip Galo’s arm, trying to get him to loosen his fist. Though taut muscle held him there with no signs of easing up at all.

“Galo-!” Lio’s plea was cut off when Galo’s lips collided with his own, throwing him into a sea of confusion. Lio’s arms quivered just a bit as he tried to gauge the best response to such a sudden motion. He kicked at him from the sudden motion, then stalled. His feelings seemed jumbled and hectic, but relief began creeping up in him for a moment before Galo pulled away.

Lio took a deep breath, about to speak again before his eyes glanced to Galo’s mouth and he saw a faint spark of light. He felt his body suddenly weaken, and his limbs fell slack instead of holding onto Galo’s arm that still held him up. The spark was a familiar pink and blue; a Promare flame. Was that… his flame? His spark?

Galo never broke eye contact as he spat the flame to the side and it hit the floor, flickering just a bit as it started to die down. Lio felt fear creep up within him now as he felt his energy fading with the flame. Every time it almost flickered out a horrid shutter of discomfort rushed through Lio, making him weaker still.

When the flame finally began dying out, Galo opened his mouth to speak, “Die… Burnish scum.” The blue of his eyes seemed intense, like a hot flame, and that sentence knocked the air out of Lio far more effectively than any punch or blast of ice ever could. The firefighter lifted his leg and stomped on the flame, and Lio felt like a knife had been shoved through his chest. He yelled, his voice tapering out in pain until squeaking out like a dying flame.

Galo’s grip slipped and he let Lio fall, and the way to the floor seemed longer than Lio could ever imagine. His mind was racing. Why would Galo say something like that? Did he truly regret relighting his fire? Did he really hate the Burnish like his hero before him had?

When he finally hit the floor Lio’s eyes flew wide open and air finally entered his lungs quickly in short pants. His lilac irises darted around, trying to pinpoint Galo, but he was gone. Instead Lio found himself staring at the ceiling of an apartment rather than some nameless burning building.

Lio finally took a full deep breath and sighed, resting a hand on his forehead as his heart tried to calm down its rapid beating. He remembered where he was now. This was Galo’s apartment, and he must’ve been having a nightmare. The intensity of the gaze from before made him uncomfortable to say the least and he rubbed his eyes to try and get the image to disappear.

Lio sat up slowly on the couch, then stretched just a bit to help his aching bones, and he tossed the blanket to the side, feeling almost too hot for the first time in his life. The dream had made him queasy, and he rubbed his temples to try and gather himself. Galo’s words echoed loudly in his mind, and the rage behind his eyes had seemed so real.

“Yo, you alright?”

Lio flinched just a little when Galo’s tired voice permeated the previous silence of the room. The other man yawned, standing in the doorway to his bedroom with nothing but a pair of sweatpants on. Lio sighed just a bit and tried to shake off his nerves.

“I heard you shout my name or somethin’,” Galo mumbled, clearly half asleep as he scratched the back of his neck and leaned on the doorway.

“It was nothing.”

“You sure? It sounded like something. Thought somethin’ might’ve happened and you needed my help.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Lio scoffed in his normal tone of voice now as he stood, “You must be hearing things.”

“Hey now, is that any way to treat someone who was concerned for you?” Galo whined and stepped into the kitchen to make them some breakfast, “Anyway, today is your first day on the force so go get ready. I left a spare uniform that Remi sent on the table.”

“Fine,” Lio stretched.

That’s right, now he remembered completely as his mind woke up and caught up to the present. The Burnish didn’t exist anymore, the Promare was gone. He was a human now, and a rookie for the Promepolis Fire Department. He had agreed to help with cleanup but hadn’t known that meant he was joining the force.

It meant room and board for him and his comrades though, so he didn’t mind too much. So Lio tied his hair up and changed into a suitable uniform, aside from the blaringly red jacket that he felt was clunky and unnecessary.

“Look who’s the rookie now,” Galo smirked, sitting at the table with a full breakfast for the both of them. Lio hadn’t expected him to be a very good cook, but he supposed Galo lived alone long enough to have to figure it out.

Galo’s voice clashed with the one in his head, and he hoped that the real one would be able to overpower the other. Hatred wasn’t something that he thought he could ever hear fly from the lips of the passionate firefighter, but his dream made him feel like he was wrong. For right now that wasn’t his concern though, it was time for work.


	2. Cleanup Crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a lighthearted chapter compared to the last one! But don't worry, the plot will pick up! If you like the fic consider checking out some of my original content! You can find me at drawingdullahan on tumblr and daggerfalling on deviantart. Though I'm much more active on tumblr.

Galo glanced to Lio quite a few times on the ride over to the station. The drive took a bit longer than usual considering the condition of the city. Lots of streets were out of commission until further notice. Galo actually found it easier to take his motorcycle, seeing as he could avoid the mass majority of rubble in the streets this way. He knew Lio liked motorcycles better anyways.

“So, rough night last night?” he asked as he drove. He felt something shift but couldn’t tell if it was Lio tensing or getting more comfortable in the seat.

“That none of your business,” Lio replied.

“Lighten up, would ya? We’re not enemies you know.”

That time he definitely felt Lio tense against him just a bit. Galo didn’t know what was up with that, and he almost opened his mouth to say something again when Lio stopped him.

“Drop it, I’m not in the mood.”

“Fine, sheesh,” Galo sighed and dropped it, “I just don’t get what your deal is.”

Galo parked the motorcycle and Lio got off almost immediately. The department was in rough condition to say the least, but nowhere near as bad as some parts of the city. It was still standing, which was good, and most of the equipment seemed to be intact, but that was partially what they were going to be doing today.

Galo found it a bit boring ice he wanted to be out cleaning up and helping people rather than doing inventory, but Aina had insisted that it couldn’t be helped. They needed to gauge their equipment before they could gauge their effectiveness as a team currently. It just annoyed him that they had to take it so slow when he felt so pumped about all of this.

“Ainaaaaa,” Galo groaned as he moved some boxes for her, “This is boring as hell, cant Varys just do this with his gear?”

“That gear is for emergencies, we can’t be wasting fuel just because you don’t want to do the boring work,” she sighed and picked up a box too, “Lio isn’t complaining, and he’s a rookie.”

Galo muttered, glancing to Lio who did seem to be working with no problems. He sighed dramatically and set the equipment down in its proper place, “Fiiiiine…”

“That’s what I thought. Besides, just cause there’s no more Burnish doesn’t mean that there aren’t people to rescue. We need to be in tip top shape when that time comes,” she grinned.

“She’s right, Galo,” Remi spoke up while adjusting his glasses just a bit, it almost seemed like he had just arrived—though he wasn’t one to usually be late, “The more we return this place to working order, the more we’ll be able to help people when we need to.”

“Yeah! So let’s get to work, fellas!” A loud voice rang out behind Remi, causing the man in glasses to sigh heavily, he had clearly already had enough of whatever was to come. Galo suddenly remembered the rushed accommodations that they had all agreed to provide the ex-members of Mad Burnish.

“Gueira in the house!” the red-haired man howled as he got off of his motorcycle, “Time to get to it!”

Remi had clearly drawn the short end of the stick and had ended up with the loudest of the bunch. Galo didn’t even think about that though, he was glad that someone was here to pump up the vibe of such a mundane task.

“Let’s get this place spotless, chumps! Why the hell you workin’ so slow!?” he cracked his knuckles and Meis showed up with a smirk to support his comrade.

“Ah hell yeah! This sets my firefighter soul ablaze!” Galo said with a newfound passion, “We can get this done in no time!”

The others might’ve been saying something to him after that, but he didn’t hear them at all. He was laser focused now on getting the task at hand completed and over with, and also maybe at doing it better than the Mad Burnish duo.

By the end of his shift he had cleared out a good deal of the rubble and trash that had been in the way. Gueira was gloating about how he had done the most and how he was now the most valuable member of burning rescue besides Meis and the boss and maybe Remi. Remi actively ignored him, as did the rest of the crew besides Varys who was challenging him to an arm-wrestling match for later, to which Gueira accepted, unknowing of his fate.

Galo had long forgotten about his feud with Gueira by the time they were done. Now he was making his way back towards Lucia’s lab since the way to it was all cleared up now.

“Worried about your Matoi Tech?”

Galo heard an amused scoff behind him and turned to see Lio with a very characteristic smirk across his face. Then it dawned on him that he was right. His Matoi tech! He hoped it was in good condition considering how banged up some of their things had been. Lucia’s lab tended to be one of the most reinforced rooms in the entire department though, so that thought put Galo’s mind at ease just a bit.

Galo opened the door and sprinted inside to look around for his gear. It was pretty cold in here considering that all the gear was conditioned to hold ice and other cooling agents. It didn’t bother Galo one bit though. He found the place that Lucia usually stored it and looked around expectantly. Everything else was intact, so it should’ve been right in its spot where it belonged!

But it wasn’t.

Galo looked around in confusion, “Where the hell is it?”

Galo’s head whipped around when he heard a soft snickering that turned into a louder cackle. He scanned the area until he finally looked down towards Meis and Lio who were standing in front of a large piece of rubble on the floor.

Galo jumped down to check out what was going on when his blood froze in shock. Underneath said boulder was his Matoi tech, smashed to pieces. Galo fell to his knees, picking up a piece of the Matoi and weeping almost comically over it.

“Out of everything here it looks like your armor was the only casualty,” Lio said with a voice that almost held pity. Mostly it held amusement at the prospect of only Galo’s gear being damaged.

“That’s not faaaair!!”

“I’m sure that Lucia can make you another one when she has the resources.”

“This is a disgrace to the heritage of a far east island nation.”

“You know you sound ridiculous?” Lio let out a small chuckle.

Galo looked up at that to retort something about how they put out fire with their bare hands and how that was badass, but then he saw Lio’s face.

For the past several days Lio had looked a little distant, hell even before the distance Galo hadn’t gotten a good look at such a happy expression on the man. Galo forgot about the Matoi and grinned at him, finding his chuckle a bit contagious. Though a clank dragged both of their attention back to the boulder.

Meis kicked the metal a little bit, “Yeah, this is busted all to hell, better just accept that fact.”

“Don’t kick it!” Galo whined and shielded the broken gear.

“Guys, stop harassing, Galo. We’re almost done. And stop crying, Galo. Get back to work,” Ignis called from the door to the room and Galo stood quickly. He always did bounce back quickly.

“Yes sir!”

Lio and Meis nodded, getting the last of what they needed to get done out of the way.

Galo got ready to head home, then sat on his bike to wait for Lio. It wasn’t long before the blond followed him out and the two of them made their way back to Galo’s apartment. Galo thought it would be weird to have the ex-burnish staying at his place, but he was quiet and sometimes Galo even forgot he was there.

He really was quite the guest. So, Galo wanted to do something to commemorate their new partnership on the force.

“Hey Lio?” he called back as he drove.

“Yeah?”

“Wanna get some pizza?”


End file.
